"What Sarah Said": a lo-fi, live action web comic (episode 23, Zelda Multi-Player)

*** Click image to enlarge. ***

Lately P-Finn and I have started to explore our video game options outside Little Big Planet. We breezed through Kirby Yarn (well, me pushing through the heavy platforming with him making superfluous use of the "Angel" button). One day he woke early enough from a nap to catch a glimpse of me playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and decided he wanted to jump in. 

Up through now, Patrick was accustomed to multiplayer options and couldn't fathom a game without an "opt in" feature. This led to some creative parenting on my part: we each took one control of the Wii nunchuk. Sometimes he would assume the analog stick and constantly run off cliffs or into lava. Other times he would figure out how to get into my inventory and use one item ad nauseum. 

We are getting better at coordinating our movement. I've managed to get through a few dungeons (sans boss fights) with P-Finn in tandem. Although my meta-gaming tendencies flare up every now and again, I can be quite content watching him aimlessly run around in circles as I try to cut down bushes and clay pots to pick up a few rupees along the way. 

#Instagram Reflection of the Week

The iPhone 4s is so intuitive, even a 3-year-old can easily navigate its features. And apparently, he manages Netflix well enough to queue up and watch episodes of Sonic Underground. Don't ask. His choice-- not mine. It's just a matter of time before he figures out how to request FaceTime with my parents. 

Playing Little Big Planet with my Toddler as Father / Son Time

Developmental milestones never cease to amaze me. Like the time P-Finn first managed to toddle up the staircase… and into the library to grab a CD out of it's jewel case, toddle back down the steps, and successfully insert it into the DVD player. And just under two years of age. Your either born with that technology intuition or not, and my son seemed to have it.

Just saying'.

So it came as no surprise when P-Finn asked me to have the second game controller having observed me play video games. Not wanting to ruin my current high score, I handed him a dummy controller and attempted to con him into believing that he could manipulate the main character. P-Finn didn't fall for it one bit.

In what ever three-word sentence he could string together , this child firmly requested a live joystick (or else he would commandeer mine). Seeing no other possible course of action, I plugged the little guy in. Left. Right. And use the "X" button to jump. Very straight forward. And wouldn't you know, my little kid had it figured out in only a matter of seconds.

Again, just sayin'.

P-Finn and I quickly and deeply fell in love with the cooperative style of Playstation 3's "Little Big Planet." The game is a physics-based platformer set in a world of imaginative creation. Entire levels are pieced together using various swaths of cloth, cardboard, stickers, and puppets. It's all the fun of arts and crafts... packed into a video game.

The DIY theme carries straight through into the level creation toolkit. Not only did Patrick and I attempt to build our own railroad-themed levels, but we tapped into the wealth of community created levels... well over five million of them! We spend most of our time in Little Big Planet playing through the various community created, railroad levels (especially the ones created by JubJub67 and TSFRJ).

It's one thing to watch trains in movies or television, but it's something else to get behind a freight engine and virtually pull a load of box cars. There is nothing better to a train-enthused, three-year-old. And it's become one of many father / son activities we've come to enjoy together as of late.

"What Sarah Said": a lo-fi, live action web comic (episode 4, Duck Hunt)